ABSTRACT
Every Accion Democratica (AD) and the Comite de Organizacion Politica Electoral Independiente (COPEI) government elected since 1958 had introduced changes to the Organic Law of Suffrage. The introduction of the country's twenty-sixth constitution presaged the transition from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic and as a symbolic testimony to this development, the name of the country was changed to the official title of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The system of congressional approval of military promotions was revoked and serving military personnel were given the right to vote. Hugo Chávez moved quickly to implement his manifesto commitment to overhaul the institutional structures of the partidocratic state. The move institutionalised a political role for the military viewed as partners in the construction of the new Republic. The 'pacific revolution' in the constitutional sphere redefined the institutional constructs that had existed since 1958.
